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Friday, December 23, 2011

Parisian Puffs

A local restaurant features several unique pizzas on their menu including one they call the Parisian. A thin crust is topped with bits of Granny Smith apple, cubed ham, slices of Brie cheese, and drizzled with honey. It is trés magnifique.

I knew I wanted to recreate it at home and when I came across these individual Brie and Apple Tarts, I knew I had the makings of a fantastic new appetizer.

Apologies for: 1) The messy presentation and random shapes. It took a few tries for me to get a technique and shape down. Then I didn't take the time to seal everything with egg wash. 2) The messy photo. I took these to a party and baked them there so that we could enjoy them warm and in their full glory.

These are a nice combination of flavors and textures; sweet from the honey, tart from the apple, savory from the ham, creamy from the Brie, and buttery and crispy from the puff pastry. Bite into one and you get a slight crunch and flakiness followed by more crunch from the apple, melting from the cheese, and finally sticky sweetness as you lick the honey from your fingertips. A huge hit at the party I attended!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper or a silpat.

Lightly flour work surface. Unroll one sheet of puff pastry onto work surface and roll until it's about a 10 by 10 inch square. Cut the sheet into thirds and then thirds again so that you have 9 pieces of dough that somewhat resemble a square.

Thinly slice the apple. Slice or tear the ham into pieces. Please one or two thin slices of apple in the middle of each square. Top with a slice of ham and then a slice of Brie. Fold each corner of the pastry to the center and seal with the beaten egg to seal. You can also brush the top of each puff with the egg wash, if desired.

Place the puffs on the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry.

Bake for about 20 minutes. Drizzle each puff with honey and serve warm.